SANTA CLARA — Newly minted Raiders general manager Mike Mayock didn’t have to travel far to scout college football’s best on Monday night.

Mayock, one week after the Raiders hired him, roamed the field at Levi’s Stadium to watch Alabama and Clemson warm up. He spoke with several Alabama staffers, former UCLA coach Jim Mora, current UCLA coach Chip Kelly and others who know him well from his 15 years as an NFL Network draft analyst. He got an up-close look at Alabama’s defensive linemen warming up, a group led by potential future Raider Quinnen Williams, the Crimson Tide’s star defensive tackle.

“There’s a huge advantage in person,” Mayock said of scouting warmups from the sideline. “I’ve been watching film of these two teams for months. I go back to July when I first started watching the rising seniors, OK? What I want to see pregame are all the body types.

“If you’re watching them, what do they look like? Are they bigger? Are they more slight? Do they have room to grow? What do they look like?”

Mayock wore a silver and black Raiders sweatshirt with a black backpack and black pants. You’d have a hard time mistaking who he now works for among the orange and red filling Levi’s Stadium, and Mayock has hit the ground running in his new gig.

In two weeks he’ll head to the Senior Bowl, where he and the Raiders’ staff will coach the North team. A month later is the NFL Combine, and two months after that the Raiders own three first-round picks in the 2019 draft (currently Nos. 4, 24 and TBD based on when the Cowboys lose in the playoffs).

But first on Mayock’s offseason laundry list was closely observing the country’s best warm up. After all, he can’t miss a chance to find oily hips in his backyard.

“That’s what you get before the game and then during the game, it’s just, I’m going to watch this tape 20 times, for sure,” Mayock said. “But you at least get to see them live now.”

Matt Schneidman joined the Bay Area News Group in September 2017 to cover the Oakland Raiders. He graduated from Syracuse University in Spring 2017 and has interned with The Buffalo News, the New York Post and USA TODAY.